Business Diary: Deposed LSE director hits back

Sir Howard Davies, the London School of Economics director forced to step down following the Libyan crisis this month, is phlegmatic about his downfall in a column in April's issue of Management Today. Still, he couldn't resist a few barbs at those journalists who had written unpleasant things about his woes. "What do I think of the media?" he writes. "Well, they are part of the flora and fauna of British life, I suppose. They have a job to do, like ticket touts at Stamford Bridge or men in braces in the City."

Rudd sticks up for his old friend

Digby Jones, the former director general of the CBI, has a new book out, but Fixing Britain: The Business of Reshaping our Nation has not earned a rave review from Roland Rudd, the senior partner of public-relations firm Finsbury. Maybe the downbeat assessment was to be expected. Rudd begins his review by recalling how, during the financial crisis and recession, Jones used to begin speeches with a request for a "gag on Robert Peston", the BBC's business editor. Rudd and Peston go way back and remain close friends.

Green is the new black in Holland

At least one leading business school takes the environmentseriously. The Rotterdam School of Management at ErasmusUniversity proudly announced yesterday that all its academic gowns will henceforth be made from "returnity", a new fabric that is recyclable and sustainable. It was all the idea of one of the school's professors, Gail Whiteman, who explains: "As Gandhi said: 'Be the change you want to see in the world.'" Expect herstudents to go far.

Jabre confesses to a rare mistake

It's good to see a master of the universe admit to making a mistake. Philippe Jabre, the former GLG star who now runs his own successful hedge-fund business, tells the Wall Street Journal the markets didn't exactly react to the Japanese earthquake tragedy in the way he expected. Jabre made a big bet on Japanese equities just after the earthquake and then saw the Tokyo market lose 13 per cent of its value. At that stage, Jabre got nervous and sold up, only to see shares bounce back. The episode cost his firm some $300m (£190m).

businessdiary@independent.co.uk